2011 Baseball - Creighton University Bluejays

Records and History 2010 in Review Opponents Meet the Players Meet the Staff Creighton BaseballThis is Creighton4Creighton Bluejays20 Years Later199151-22, 16-8 MVC4-0 NCAA Regionals2-2 College World SeriesHead Coach: Jim HendryOpponent W/L ScoreMount Marty W 18-1Wayne State (Neb.) W 15-3Regis W 9-7Regis W 23-0Doane W 20-0Grand View W 31-6at Kansas L (10) 11-13Colorado State W 16-8Colorado State W 11-3Colorado State W 15-1^ vs. North Carolina W 12-2^ vs. Virginia Tech W 6-3^ vs. CS Northridge L 5-9^ vs. St. John’s (N.Y.) W 15-8^ vs. Iowa State W 9-6^ vs. CS Northridge W 3-1Iowa State L 5-8at Oklahoma L 12-7vs. South Dakota State W 12-5at Oklahoma State W 25-8vs. Arkansas-Little Rock W 6-3at Oklahoma State L 5-20* Bradley W 13-2* Bradley L 0-8* Bradley W 7-2* Bradley W 15-0at Nebraska L (10) 7-8at Nebraska W (11) 6-5* at Indiana State L 11-12* at Indiana State W 10-5* at Indiana State L 4-7* at Indiana State W 14-0Nebraska-Omaha W 30-10at Iowa State L 8-9* Southern Illinois W 12-1* Southern Illinois W 3-0* Southern Illinois W 7-3* Southern Illinois W 5-2Kansas W 12-3* Missouri State W 7-1* Missouri State W 5-3* Missouri State W 4-3* Missouri State W 8-3Kansas State W 7-4at Kansas State L 2-6* at Wichita State L 4-8* at Wichita State L 1-8* at Wichita State L 3-12* at Wichita State L 5-15Nebraska L 3-5Nebraska W 14-3at Northern Iowa W 9-1* at Illinois State W 10-5* at Illinois State W 9-2* at Illinois State W 13-2* at Illinois State L 5-6Iowa State W 10-2vs. Iowa State W 9-3at Iowa State L 7-14@ vs. Illinois St. W 10-1@ vs. Indiana State W 7-6@ at Wichita State L 1-14@ vs. Indiana State W 8-6@ vs. Wichita State L 1-13% vs. Pepperdine W 5-3% vs. Minnesota W 8-3% at USC W (10) 8-7% vs. Hawaii W 15-8$ vs. Clemson W 8-4$ vs. Wichita State L (12) 2-3$ vs. Long Beach W 13-4$ vs. Wichita State L 3-11^ - Best of the West Classic at Fresno St.@ - MVC Tournament at Wichita State% - NCAA West I Regional at USC$ - College World Series“... To Play In June!”Head coach Jim Hendry came to Creighton in the middleof the 1984 season and had a dream of coaching a team thatwas still playing in June. He knew there was something specialabout the 1991 Creighton baseball team. After leading theJays to a school record 48 wins and a NCAA Regional berthin 1990, the skipper knew he had talent and depth that wouldtake his team back to the tournament. “I think our club hasa lot of talent,” Hendry was quoted saying in 1991. “We’renot really weak in any particular area, which is a good sign. Imeasure how good we are by how long you play in May andJune.”The Jays played long into June of the dream season, finishingsecond in the MVC, earning an at-large bid to the tournament,and sweeping the West I Regional. The Regional title advanced theJays to the College World Series for the first, and so far, only timein school history. Creighton met up with Clemson first, beatingthe Tigers 8-4, showing the Omaha faithful the Jays came to play.Missouri Valley foe Wichita State was the next obstacle forthe Jays.CreightonstartedfreshmanAlan Benes on the mound and he performedlike a senior. Benes threw 8.1 innings without allowingan earned run before coming out of the ballgame.The Jays and Shockers were knotted at 2-2 beforea then CWS record crowd of 18,206 going into the12th inning. The Shockers put a run on the board inthe top of the 12th on an infield single, but the Jayshad a chance to tie the ballgame in the bottom of theframe. Creighton’s Steve Bruns was put in to pinchrunafter Jason Judge was hit by a pitch to lead off theinning.The runner advanced to second after an infieldgroundout, with the Shocker second baseman makinga nice play to his backhand side. With a runneron second and one out, Dax Jones stepped in andripped a single to center field. Bruns was on hishorse and rounded third - the only thing that wouldstop him from tying the game would be a perfectthrow from Shocker centerfielder Jim Audley. Unfortunatelyfor the Jays, that’s exactly what Audleydid. Bruns was called out at home, and a ground ballto short on the next play ended the Creighton half of the inning, and ultimately the game.The Jays bounced back to defeat Long Beach State 13-4, using a nine-run second inning to put away theWest Coast opponent. The victory pitted the Jays against Wichita State for the second time in the tournament,this time facing a win or go home situation. After the emotionally draining game just three nightsbefore, Creighton couldn’t manage to put anything together, falling 11-3 to the Shockers and being eliminatedfrom the CWS with a 2-2 record. Wichita State went on to lose in the finale to LSU.